Interim General Manager (m/f/d) Middle East

Departer - The German Headhunter; Dubai; On-site; AED 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Vincere is seeking an Interim General Manager (m/f/d) to lead the Middle East regional business from Dubai, aligning with European headquarters and driving sustainable growth. The role requires a strong track record in senior management, P&L ownership, and organizational development across diverse cultures.

You will lead regional teams, foster a culture of accountability, and ensure effective governance while maintaining customer focus and performance excellence.

Qualifications

• Proven senior management experience with P&L responsibility in the Middle East.
• Extensive senior-level experience in the Middle East and understanding of regional business cultures.
• Experience leading established organizations through transformation or change.
• Strong track record in business leadership and organizational development.
• Experience balancing regional needs with global strategy and governance.
• Ability to combine regional entrepreneurship with corporate governance and processes.
• Leadership style that is collaborative, patient and culturally sensitive.
• Proven ability to build trust across diverse teams and stakeholders.
• Experience mentoring senior managers and developing leadership talent.
• Strong commercial acumen with strategic thinking and hands-on execution.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills in complex environments.

Responsibilities

• Assume overall responsibility for the regional business and its performance.
• Lead the regional organization in alignment with global strategy and European HQ.
• Ensure sound financial and commercial performance with sustainable growth.
• Provide leadership to the regional management team and foster accountability.
• Strengthen cooperation across Sales, Engineering, Service, and regional functions.
• Develop the regional organization with clear structures and decision processes.
• Support engineering and service organization development in the region.
• Drive customer proximity and engage with key customers and partners.
• Maintain business continuity in a dynamic regional market.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency and collaboration.
• Bridge regional organization with European headquarters and balance local vs global requirements.
• Lead change with decisiveness and cultural sensitivity.
• Coach and mentor regional leaders for succession planning.
• Strengthen long-term sustainability through leadership development.

Skills

P&L ownership

Middle East leadership

Change management

Leadership presence

Stakeholder management

Strategic thinking

Communication

Education

Degree in business or engineering

Job description

ABOUT DEPARTER - THE KNOW-WHO PEOPLE

Departer is a leading German Executive Search firm with over 20 years of experience in global leadership recruitment. We specialize in placing executives in medium-sized enterprises and private equity portfolio firms across DACH, MEAI, ASIA and ANZ regions. With a deep understanding of the DACH economy, we facilitate successful placements within global management teams across corporate headquarters and entities abroad.

Our client is a globally established industrial technology company with a strong international presence and a long-standing reputation for engineering excellence, quality and customer-oriented solutions. The company develops and delivers highly specialized technologies, engineering services and solutions to demanding industrial customers across international markets.

The Middle East represents an important and well-established region within the company's global organization with operations across several key markets and a broad portfolio of commercial, engineering and service activities. The regional organization works closely with headquarters in Europe while operating in a diverse and dynamic market environment.

As Interim General Manager (m/f/d), you will assume overall responsibility for the regional business and its continued development. The mandate combines business leadership, organizational development, performance management and cultural leadership across the region.

The role is particularly suited to an experienced Middle East executive who understands how to lead established organizations through periods of change while maintaining business continuity, customer focus and employee engagement. A key element of the assignment will be to develop the regional leadership organization and support the continued development of the next generation of regional leadership.

This is a hands‑on leadership role requiring both strategic perspective and strong operational presence. Success will depend not only on setting direction but also on building trust, aligning different stakeholder groups, working effectively with headquarters and creating conditions for sustainable performance across the region.

Your duties and responsibilities will include:

• Assume overall responsibility for the regional business including commercial performance, organizational development and operational execution
• Lead the regional organization in close alignment with the company's global strategy and European headquarters
• Ensure sound financial and commercial performance while maintaining a strong focus on sustainable and profitable growth
• Provide clear leadership and direction to the regional management team and foster a culture of accountability, collaboration and ownership
• Strengthen cooperation across Sales, Engineering, Service and other regional functions
• Further develop the regional organization and ensure effective structures, responsibilities and decision‑making processes
• Support the continued development and stabilization of the regional engineering and service organization including the further development of service capabilities in India
• Drive customer proximity and personally engage with key customers, partners and strategic stakeholders where required
• Maintain business continuity and organizational stability in a complex and evolving regional environment
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, collaboration and overall organizational performance
• Act as a strong and trusted interface between the regional organization and European headquarters while balancing local market requirements with global standards and expectations
• Lead change with an appropriate balance of decisiveness, patience and cultural sensitivity
• Coach, develop and mentor members of the regional leadership organization with a particular focus on preparing the next generation of regional leadership
• Strengthen the long‑term sustainability and continuity of the regional organization through effective leadership development and knowledge transfer

To be successful in this role, you should have the following skills and experiences:

• Proven senior management experience with overall business or P&L responsibility in the Middle East
• Extensive senior‑level experience in the Middle East is essential with a strong understanding of the region's diverse business cultures and leadership environments
• Demonstrated experience leading established organizations through periods of organizational development, change or transformation
• Strong track record in business management, commercial leadership and organizational development
• Proven experience working within a structured international organization and effectively balancing regional business requirements with headquarters' strategic direction, governance and processes
• Ability to combine regional entrepreneurial thinking with corporate governance, processes and global standards
• Strong leadership presence combined with a collaborative, patient and culturally sensitive management style
• Demonstrated ability to build trust across diverse teams and stakeholder groups
• Experience developing and mentoring senior managers and emerging leadership talent
• Strong commercial acumen and the ability to combine strategic thinking with hands‑on execution
• High level of interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments
• Strong general management and business leadership capabilities; specific product or functional expertise is considered secondary to proven leadership, commercial and organizational management experience
• Experience in industrial technology, automation, engineering, process industries or related B2B environments is advantageous
• A technical or business‑related university degree is preferred
• Fluency in English; additional languages are an advantage
• Willingness to be based in Dubai, UAE with regular travel across the region